Five ohe-htwdbedths to



W. D..McKINNEY.

GUN MOUNT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG 2. 1918.

1,324,606. 1 Patented Dec. 9,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I- C) 7 I f U J7 ,7

,- All": a

' INVENTOR.

i I W ATTORNEY w. 0. McKlNNEY.

GUN MOUNT.

APPLICATION FILED Auez; l9l8.

Patented Dec. 9,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Parana canton WILLIAM DONALD MCKINNEY, 0E LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF- FIFTY FIVE ONE-HUNDREDTHS TO JAMES T. ROBINSON AND FQRTY-FIVE ONE- IUN DREDTHS T0 FOREST 3. GEE, BQTEIOF l-IOLYOKE, IVIASSACHUSETTS.

GUN-MOUN T.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM Donald MCKINNEY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, but tei'nporarily residing at Holyoke, in the county 0" Hampden and State of ht assachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gun-Mounts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gun mounts and particularly to gun mounts which are adapted to support relatively small arms, such as machine guns and the like, for example. The invention also relates to improvements in gun mounts of the type disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 221,488, filed March 9, 1918.

An object of the invention is to provide aspecifically improved gun mount embodyin 'un trainin and elevatin mechanism- D t: b

and including relatively revoluble standards telescoped one upon the other and of general conical form, the standards being par ticularly characterized by improved construction to secure light weight and at the same time provide a sturdy, rigid, stable, and braced support for the gun,

Another object 01' the invention is to provide specifically improved gun training mechanism and specifically improved gun elevating mechanism, to the end that the gun may be rapidly swung substantially into the desired angular position and clamped, and thereafter be capable of restricted movement by .small and closely regulable increments to carry the gun accurately into the desired position.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of mil scales in connection with both the gun training and elevating mechanism, the scales being arranged so that the gun; may be conveniently swung with close accuracy from any position through a predetermined length of traverse.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following description and in the appended claims.

The invention, in an embodiment at present preferred, is shown for illustrative pur- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

Application filed August 2, 1918. Serial No. 247,910.

poses in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a gun mount embodying the invention;

Fig. 22- is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section, of the gun elevating mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevational view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

t is a fragmentary sectional plan View taken on the line 4-41 of Fig. 3;

Fig. '5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. a;

Fig. 7 is a perspect1ve view of the operat ing member for locking the gun carrying saddle; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional View showing a modification in a detail of construction.

Referring to these drawings and particularly to Fig. 3; the gun mount includes a stationary support which comprises an annular base ring portion 16, an upper king pin portion 11, and a plurality of integral connecting webs 12 which'support and brace the king pin from the base ring. Each web 12 is provided with a pair of spaced and inwardly extending webs 13 between which is received the upper end'ot a leg 14 and to which the latter is pivoted by a pin 15. Inwardly extending from the base ring 10 are a plurality of integral and angularly spaced webs 16 which are preferably connected at a common and central point as shown in Fig. Each web 16 is provided with 'a slot 17 curved from the pivot pin 15 as a center. 'Each leg 14, which, as shown in Fig. 1, is provided with a suitable groundengaging shoe 18, is arranged to swing with one face substantially contiguous with one end of each bolt 19 may be turned to clamp each leg against its web 16'.

The base ring 10 1s provided with a conical. portion 21 and above this portion is a cylindrical portion 22, which portions are connected by an integral, annular, and substantially horizontal ledge Telescoped over the stationary support just described is a second and revoluble support which includes a hollow frusto-conical portion 24 to ride upon the portion 21 of the stationary support; a head portion 25 which has a socket to receive the king pin 11; and a plurality of integral webs 26 connecting the portions 24 and 25. The stationary and revoluble supports may be held against axial displacement by a pin 27 in the revoluble support which pin engages in a circumferential groove 28 formed in the king pin 11.

Resting upon the described ledge 23 is an annular scale ring 29, which fits over the described cylindrical portion 22 and is revoluble relatively thereto. Fixed to the latter above and out of contact with ring 29 is a ring gear 30. Referring now to Figs. 4, 5, and 6. a bushing 31 is mounted in a lug 32 on the revoluble support and, rotatably mounted in the bushing, is a shaft 33, which carries a worm 34 to mesh with the ring gear 30. A hand wheel 35, fixed to shaft 33, permits the worm to be conveniently turned and thus the revoluble support may be turned relatively to the stationary support carrying the ring gear 30.

The revoluble support may also be turned by hand and to permit rapid manual movement of the support means are provided to disengage the worm 34 from its gear to permit such movement. Thus, the shaft 33 is eccentrically journaled in bushing 31 so that, when the latter is swung, as by the handle 36 provided thereon, toward the left (Figs. 4 and 6), worm 34 will be withdrawn from meshing engagement with gear 30. A set screw 37 (Fig. 6) in lug has an end disposed in an arcuate groove 38 in bushing 31, whereby the swinging movements of the latter may be limited and axial displacement of the bushing in lug 32 prevented.

In orderthat the revoluble support may be swung by known increments, the scale ring 29 is provided with suitable graduations, which may be read with reference to a pointer 89 carried by the portion 24 of the revoluble support. The ring 29 is purposely mounted loosely on the stationary support in order that it may be manually turned to Zero position with relation to pointer 39, whatever position the revoluble support may happen to occupy. The ring 29 is thus frictionally held in position, and, if desired, additional frictional engagement may be provided, as shown in Fig. 8, by a spring-pressed plunger 40 which is arranged to yieldingly force ring 29 against the ledge The graduations on ring 29 may be made as desired, but, for the contemplated use of the invention, it is preferred to use the mil scale and each graduation on scale ring 29 may advantageously represent fifty mils. That is, when the outer support is swung on the stationary support through an are indicated on scale 29 as fifty mils, the chord subtended by this are at a distance of 1000 yards is fifty yards.

A mil scale is also associated with the hand wheel 35 and in the following man ner. A scale ring 42 is loosely mounted on a shouldered-down portion of the handwheel and is frictionally held to the latter by aspring-pressed pin 43 mounted in the hand-wheel, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. A pointer 44 is provided on the handle 36 of the bushing 31 as a reference point for the scale. By reason of the worm and gear arrangement for moving the outer support, a large angular movement of hand-wheel 35 causes a much smaller angular movement of the outer support. The scale ring 42 may, therefore, be graduated in mils and still be conveniently and accurately read whereas, if scale 29 were graduated in mils, it could not be so read. The scale ring 42 is manually resettable to zero position with relation to pointer 44 without turning handle 35.

The outer support carries a saddle 45 (Figs. 1 and 3) which has spaced depending arcuate members 46 to straddle the support. Curved tracks 47 are provided on the latter and upon these tracks the said members may ride. The saddle 45 is connected to the outer support to swing about a horizontal axis by means of a pin 48 and such pin has, adjacent each end, eccentric portions 49 to engage in the saddle. The pin 48 may be turned by a handle 50 and, on turning the pin in the appropriate direction, the arcuate members 46 may be forced downwardly into binding engagement with tracks 47, whereby the saddle may be clamped to the outer support;

The saddle 45 is arranged to carry the gun, and in the drawings there has been shown at G a conventional representation of a machine gun. The gun G has near its mid portion two depending lugs g and near its rear portion other similar lugs g. The lugs g are received between two laterally spaced upstanding lugs 51 on the saddle A pin 52 pivotally connects the lugs g and 51. End play of the gun G on pin 52 is prevented by a bushing threaded into one lug 51 and capable of engaging one lug g and thereby forcing the other lug 9 against the other lug 51.

The lugs g of the gun are connected by a pivot pin 54 to one end of a link 55 and the other end of the link is pivotally connected to the upper end of a stud 55, which is slidable in the saddle 45. The stud 55, or at least the lower portion thereof, is threaded to screw into the interiorly threaded bore of a hand-wheel 56 (Fig, 2). Such wheel is mounted in a lateral slot 57 of the saddle and its end faces engage the horizontal walls of the slot to prevent vertical play of stud 55. Obviouslyby turning hand-wheel 56, the stud may be raised or lowered and thus gun G depressed or elevated. The hand-wheel 56 carries an annular scale ring 58 which is identical in construction and mounting to the ring 4:2, already described. Scale 58 is preferably graduated in mils and may be read by reference to a pointer 59 on the saddle. lhe periphery of handwheel 56 is preferably serrated and engaged by a spring-pressed detent 60, which is slidably mounted in saddle 4:5 and manually retractible by the linger piece 61. Thus, the hand-wheel may be frictionally held against rotation.

In operation, the operator may disengage worm 34: from gear 30 and rapidly train the gun approximately into the desired position in the horizontal plane. Then by moving handle 36, the worm as may be thrown into mesh with gear 30, and the engagement of the last two members'eiiectually holds the gun against movement in a horizontal plane except for such movement as is obtained by turning the hand-wheel 35. By turning the latter, the gun may be moved by small and regulable increment to bring it accurately in the desired position. Similarly, the handle 50 may be turned to free members 46 from tracks a7 and then the saddle 45 may be rapidly swung, about pin d8 as an axis, to bring the gun G into the desired position in a vertical plane, Thereafter, the saddle may be clamped by turning handle 50, whereby the members 46 may b depressed to engage the tracks a7 and be efi'ectively clamped thereagainst. The small and regulable increments of movement of the gun in a vertical plane may be then obtained by turning the hand-wheel 56, and the latter is releasably held, in the various positions to which it may be turned, by th spring-pressed detent 60.

Having made the preliminary set-up as described, it may then be desired to traverse the gun in either a vertical or a horizontal plane, throughout a definite distance. To accomplish this object, the hand-wheels 35 or 56 or both are turned back and forth throughout the prescribed range as indicated on the mil scales 4:2 or 58, respectively. Inasmuch as the several scales 29, 42, or 58 may not, and probably will not, be at zero position with relation to their pointers, each scale is purposely mounted so as to permit it to be rapidly and conveniently reset to zero position.

Aside from the advantages of the gun training and elevating mechanism and the convenience in operation of the gun of the improved mil scale arrangement, the gun mount is particularly characterized in that it is of light Weight and conveniently portable while at the same time it retains all the desirable advantages of sturdiness and rigidity incident to the telescopic cone construction.

The invention has been disclosed, in an embodiment at present preferred, for thepurposes oi illustration, but the scope of the invention is defined oy the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

hat, I claim is 1. A machine gun mount, con'iprising, a member movable about a substantially vertical axis, a saddle near the upper end of said member to swing about a substantially horizontal axis, means on the saddle to support the gun for swinging movement-sin a vertical plane. elevating mechanism on the saddle at'a distance from said means and adapted for connection to the gun, spaced arcuate members depending from the saddle, curved tracks on the first-named member on which the arcuate members are adapted to ride, means to hold the arcuate members to the tracks in various positions of angular adjustment, said holding means being movable to permit rapid movement of the saddle and thus the gun, said elevating mechanism comprising a screw slidable in the saddle and adapted for connection to the gun and a hand-wheel threaded on said screw and held against axial displacement in the saddle.

.2. In a. machine gun mount, a support, a saddle mounted thereon for swinging movement, means to hold the saddle to the support in various positions of angular adjustment, means on the saddle to support the gun for swinging movement about an parallel to that about which the saddle swings, a screw-slidable in the saddle at a distance from said means and adapted for connection to the gun, a handwheel threaded on said screw and held against axial displacement in the saddle, and means to releasably hold the handwheel against rotation.

23. In a machine gun mount, a support, a saddle mounted thereon for swinging n'iovement, means to hold the saddle to the support in various positions of angular adjustment, means on the saddle to support the gun for swinging movement about an axis parallel to that about which the saddle swings, a screw slidable in the saddle at a distance from said means and adapted for connection to the gun, a hand-wheel threaded on said screw and held against aXial displacement in the saddle, a dial manually rota-table 011 the hand-wheel and frictionally held thereto so that it may rotate therewith, and indicating means on the saddle for cooperation with said dial.

4:. In a machine gun mount, a support, a saddle mounted thereon for swinging movement, means to hold the saddle to the support in various positions of angular adjustinent, means on the saddle to support the gun for swinging movement about an axis parallel to that about which the saddle swings, a screw slidable in the saddle at a distance from said means and adapted tor connection to the gun, a slot extending laterally through the saddle, a handflrheel mounted in said slot and held against axial displacement by the Walls thereof, said hand-Wheel having a threaded engagement with saidv screw, whereby the gun may be elevated by rotz'rting the hand-Wheel.

5. In a machine gun mount, a support, a member revoluble thereon, means on the member to support the gun, a gear on the support, an annular ring-like portion formed on said support and in spaced parallel relation with the gear, an annular scale ring disposed between said gear and ring portion and frictionally held to the latter, whereby it may be manually turned, a Worm on the member to engage said gear, and means to more the Worm into and out of mesh with the gear.

6. In a gun mount, a supporting member, a member telescoped over the first-named member and revoluble thereon, and means 011 the second member to support the gun, each of said'meinbers comprisi.ng,- lfllYQi'Qilgaging annular frustoconical base ring poi tions, and inter-engaging cylindrical portions at a distance from and conccntricalI; arranged With relation to the b: so ring portions, and a plurality of angularly spaced and upwardly converging Webs connecting each base ring to its upper portion.

7. In a machine gun mount, a support including a hollow frusto-conical base ring portion, a head portion, and a plurality of angularly spaced Webs extending in up- Wardly convergingrelation from the base ring to the head portion, a lug provided on each Web and radially extending inwardly therefrom, a tripod leg pivoted to each lug, a plurality of angularly spa a webs provided on the base ring and extending radially inwardly therefrom, a curved slot provided in each of the luST- named Webs, a stud in each tripod leg 1 ride in the adjacent curved slot. and laudle nuts on the studs to clzunp the 1 against the last-named Webs.

WILLIAM DONALD llIcKlNNEY. 

